Get this week's most popular Handbook of Texas articles delivered straight to your inbox

While our physical offices are closed until further notice in accordance with Austin's COVID-19 "stay home-work safe" order, the Handbook of Texas will remain available at no-cost for you, your fellow history enthusiasts, and all Texas students currently mandated to study from home. If you have the capacity to help us maintain our online Texas history resources during these uncertain times, please consider making a 100% tax-deductible contribution today. Thank you for your support of TSHA and Texas history. Donate Today »

ALLEN, SAMUEL EZEKIEL (1848–1913). Samuel Ezekiel Allen, rancher, was born in Harris County, Texas, on June 8, 1848, the son of Rebecca Jane (Thomas) and Samuel W. Allen. He attended Harrisburg public schools and Bastrop Military Academy. He was a rancher like his father, whose property he inherited and consolidated with some of his mother's land originally granted to her father, Ezekiel Thomas, and her great-uncle, Mosis A. Callihan. At the time of Allen's death in 1913 he owned 10,000 to 20,000 acres along Buffalo Bayou and was one of the largest taxpayers in Harris County. He also maintained a 10,000-acre "winter pasture" on the San Bernard River in Brazoria County and had additional grazing land in Galveston and Fort Bend counties. Earlier his holdings had extended to the Colorado River near Columbus.

For the headquarters of his ranch Allen chose a location near the mouth of Sims Bayou and used Buffalo Bayou for the transportation of cattle. Also he shipped cattle by rail, through his private station, El Buey. Besides his ranching activities he had varied business interests, including banking, shipping, and manufacturing. He founded and was one of the principal stockholders in the Oriental Textile Mills, at that time the largest manufacturer of press cloth for the cotton industry in the world, with offices in New York, London, and other major cities. Allen was also among the founders of a bank.

In 1874 he married Rosa Christie Lum. They had six children. Allen died on June 23, 1913. In 1917 Mrs. Allen began the dissolution of the Allen Ranch, which continued until her death in 1931. She was assisted by her grandson, Robert Cummins Stuart, who helped her subdivide Allen Dale, Allen Farms, and Lum Terrace. Through those and other subdivisions many streets in Houston bear names connected with the Allen Ranch. Both Allen and his wife were buried in Glendale Cemetery, Harrisburg.

Image Use Disclaimer

All copyrighted materials included within the Handbook of Texas Online are in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 related to Copyright and “Fair Use” for Non-Profit educational institutions, which permits the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), to utilize copyrighted materials to further scholarship, education, and inform the public. The TSHA makes every effort to conform to the principles of fair use and to comply with copyright law.

Katy Jennings' Ride
Scholarly Research Request
I'm doing research on Catherine Jennings Lockwood, specifically the incident known as "Katy Jennings' Ride." Her father was Gordon C. Jennings, the oldest man to die at the Alamo...

Texas Constitution of 1836 Co-Author- Elisha Pease?
Ask a Historian
The TSHA profile of Elisha Marshall Pease states that he wrote part of the Texas Constitution although he was only a 24 year-old assistant secretary (not elected). I cannot find any other mention of this authorship work by Pease in other credible research about the credited Constution authors...